


Two Points to Match

by novelteanottes



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Sports, F/M, Felileth Week (Fire Emblem), Kendo, Martial Arts, felileth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:14:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25322950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novelteanottes/pseuds/novelteanottes
Summary: Felix was a proud and decorated collegiate kendoka, Blue Lion's third in the A team line-up, and up for his promotion tests this year.When grad student Byleth Eisner takes over the Golden Deers as team captain and unexpected ace, Felix finds a new, singular goal in his martial arts career.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 5
Kudos: 15





	Two Points to Match

**Author's Note:**

  * For [endspire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/endspire/gifts).



> *Japanese kendo terms are italicized and explained at the end.  
> **I did in fact live my unexpected, best sports anime life in college kendo LOL. So this is based on personal experience?  
> This was based/inspired by @endspire's comic:  
> https://twitter.com/end_spire/status/1283794873221623810

A kendo match is both criminally short and punishingly long. Three measured steps inside the court, unsheathe grip-first towards their eyes, and meet at _kamae_ — at the ready. Felix steadied his breath the moment before the flag was raised — _hajime!_ — and struck, viper-quick. The accompanying war-cry ripped from his belly, matched by a high, no less feral answer. His bamboo _shinai_ clattered harshly against the opponent’s, whose own attack glanced harmlessly off the side of his helmet. Both bodies met at the middle and repelled to a wary distance, baiting with loosely bent muscles that did not betray the vice-grips on their weapons.

It was the last match of the first day, and Felix did not recognize the name Eisner of Golden Deer embroidered in white on the opposing side. Eisner was a strong final’s match-up for him: nearly his height, boasting a solid core strength juxtaposing Felix’s wirier build. He knew to push his advantage with speed and feinted for a wrist attack with _kote_ , but the _kendoka_ hardly flinched as she guarded his real target, her _men_.

After another ineffective lunge, his breath rattled harshly in his lungs, and he felt rather than saw what came next. The bamboo blade, a blur between the slots of his helmet, snapped against the crown of his head in one fatal stroke that bypassed his delayed defense. In the space of what felt like an eternity, the whistle blew and flags were raised. Three minutes later, Felix had never felt so alive in defeat.

The swordsman’s body bowed through the traditions, but it was running on autopilot as his mind whirred. Hot blood was practically singing underneath his skin, and he had barely shucked off his _men_ before he crossed the gym in strides.

“Hey you, spar with me.”

His line of sight had followed the opponent’s name on her _zekken_ , but when he raised his eyes he did not expect to see a shock of mint hair fall out of her untied _tenugui_ head towel. Her eyebrows were lifted in surprise, at once calculating and uncowed.

“Sure,” she responded after a beat, “but open sparring is in a minute. Care to let me grab some water?”

“Okay.” Felix grunted, forgetting his day’s exhaustion. To him, Eisner looked spritely enough herself for winning the All Collegiate Individual’s Kendo Tournament, but he nevertheless hovered as she returned to her team’s bleachers.

Golden Deers, however proudly they were named, were never the dominating college team to look out for. Their members had solid enough showings in the bracket to be a contender tomorrow of course, but the Blue Lions were the defending champions, with their eyes set on the only team that was worth a rivalry: the Black Eagles.

Felix crossed his arms and kept what he considered a respectful enough distance as Eisner was mobbed with enthusiastic pats on the back and shoulder massages. For all their lack of renown, the yellow-jerseyed team was the noisiest. In fact, Eisner was the calmest title-winner he had witnessed, taking their praise while seated with the slightest of smiles. Perhaps his thousand-yard stare was starting to burn, because Eisner caught it and returned another eyebrow raise. Felix huffed and turned to the side. He could wait, but she would not escape.

A practiced kendoka knew when to slide into openings, and the minute she stepped away, he was laced up and behind her.

“Hey you, where do you practice?”

“Why? It’s Byleth, by the way.” She glanced down at his name, “Fraldarious? I may have heard that before on the coach’s list, but who's to say.”

“Felix.” He grunted. “First to two points?”

“Fine by me,” Byleth’s smile tugged into a smirk, “but do let me get around the court with the other teams, won’t you?”

Felix abided by the ceremonies of the martial art but was not a great study of its philosophies — namely patience. He hopped from foot to foot as Byleth tied her _men_ on with neat laces and glided within distance. His first strike hit thin air as she raised her arms well out of reach, slashing at his side.

Pulling back, Felix barely allowed their swords to stay at an impasse before peeling away again, shouting with renewed vigor. They met like that in their battlefield of a few feet, pushing and pulling away as if hummingbirds in motion, yet magnetized to the same center. Byleth held like a rock, soon finding the angles that Felix missed in overswinging, and his head and wrist stung in quick succession.

“Pardon my intrusion, but may I have a chance as well?” The Black Eagle’s captain, Edelgard, stepped forward, her body clearly angled towards Byleth with curiosity. Byleth rested her _shinai_ with one last respectful bow in Felix’s direction, before being carried off.

A whistle sounded behind him, low and grating.

“Haven’t seen someone give you a run for your money since you challenged our coach,” Sylvain lounged with his _shinai_ tossed arrogantly — and informally — over his shoulder. “And what a looker she is with those arms! Imagine what she’s like with her _bogu_ off, especially the chestplate.”

Coming out of his daze, Felix tensed in a way he would be embarrassed to admit to later. A resounding smack woke both of them to their senses. The hit hardly could’ve hurt, but did knock Sylvain’s weapon from his hands.

“Sylvain, that is a team’s captain you’re talking about, not one of your girls!” Ingrid was red-faced through her frazzled bangs, freshly out of a spar herself. From the light in her eyes, she had come out on top. “I fought her in one of the later brackets of Women’s this morning, but it was over before time was even called. She was nice enough to come over and shake my hand though, and went on to defeat even Edelgard. I don’t know about you guys, but I think Dimitri’s going to have a run for his money if our team’s tomorrow isn’t decided before the captain’s match.”

“Claude is knocked down to fourth position?” Sylvain squawked just as Felix muttered, “I always secure our win by third.”

At that, Ingrid laughed shortly. “Oh no, Hilda’s still their fourth, so we’ll have to see which of you two slack harder. Claude was entered as third, Felix, so have fun with that.”

Felix bit back an “I will” off his tongue out of habit. He was hoping to get an official rematch, but it figured that the individual’s winner, Byleth, was team captain. Still, Dimitri had been knocked out before he was properly warmed up this morning, so they had yet to fight. As much as it ground on him, he consoled himself with the idea that he could end things before their points were ever on the line.

With single-minded regard to the time they had left, he blitzed through the rest of his friendly spars with half a mind. The moment the day wrapped up, he stormed a warpath to the exit to catch Byleth.

“You never answered,” he accused without real heat, ignoring the startled giggling he was getting from the other Golden Deers, “where you practiced. Outside of Golden Deer, obviously.”

If Byleth was off-put by him, her face remained unruffled, “Jeralt Dojo. My father is the sensei there.”

“Jeralt Dojo,” Felix repeated, recalling the name of a rather prestigious but somewhat out-of-the-way club. It wasn’t affiliated with any of the major Kendo networks, making it an anomaly compared to the well-known alliances.

“You’re free to visit,” She said, not unkindly, as she tossed her bag over her back as if it weren’t twenty pounds, “and I’m a grad student at Leicester U. so, I’ll be there the rest of the school year. Send us an email.”

They filed out, Hilda tossing her an aggressively knowing wink. Felix ignored it, his eyes set on one prize only. Collegiate kendo would have been a little boring if the next two years were going to go the Blue Lions’ way that easily.

\--- 

Kendo Terminology  
* **kendoka** \- a person that practices the martial art of kendo, sword-fighting  
* **ippon** \- one [point] counted towards the 2 needed to win a match  
* **kamae** \- lit. posture, but it is the ready stance where both opponents keep their swords distanced almost to touch in preparation of attack  
* **hajime** \- start, when the head referee lowers his flags and signals a match to begin  
* **shinai** \- bound-bamboo sword that is used in sparring, flexible and meant for efficient hits, not power. This differs from the wooden swords that more closely imitate a samurai’s, _bokken_  
* **men** \- the term for the head strike, but refers to the helmet as well  
* **kote** \- the term for the wrist strike, but refers to the gloves as well  
* **tenugui** \- the head towel wrapped around one’s head before placing the helm on, and can be seen from the back  
* **zekken** \- the slip of cloth that identifies the person, often bearing both one’s last name and club  
* **bogu** \- armor, consisting of several pieces including the _men_ , _kote_ , _do_ (chestplate/torso), _tare_ (padded skirt around the waist). All of which are made of a mixture of treated leather and synthetic imitation material, tied on with strings.  
* **dojo** \- a hall where one practices martial arts, but also encompasses the club that practices/gathers there (ie. a gym can be a dojo, and the club that practices there belongs to that named dojo).  
* **sensei** \- in kendo, it is a title given to those 4dan rank and up, who serve as teaching examples within their dojo.

If anyone has further questions, feel free to ask me.  
I’m honestly trying not to overload it with jargon, but it’s also impossible to think of a very traditional Japanese practice without its Japanese terms (yes, we use them including honorifics within the American collegiate network while practicing).  
Here is a good reference site for rules and visuals: https://kendo.supplies/kendo-rules/

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on impulse, but I didn't have a very strong plot in mind or au built ahaha. Anyway. It's a draft so we'll see what changes~~ Will I continue this...  
> I'm writing this mainly because ENDSPIRE AND I MET at a Kendo Tournament. We are both 5 foot gals who free sparred and then I spotted her later boothing at an artist's alley, with FE art!!! Gotta have our characters relive our seishun you know.


End file.
